Anderson Business Technology Goes Live with Northgate’s Reality

NorthgateArinso (Northgate) has announced that Anderson Business Technology has gone live with its Reality system.

Anderson Business Technology, an office equipment, supply and service provider, teamed up with Northgate to overhaul its system to a contemporary Reality database in a Microsoft Windows server environment. "There is no other sector that moves as fast as technology," says David Anderson, company president and grandson of the founder. "If you are not prepared to make the changes you need to keep pace, you don't survive."

Anderson has a report he has to run each month as a business check. "Previously I used to stay behind at the close of business because it would take around 2 hours to run and print. Now it is virtually instantaneous. Other reports that took 15 minutes now take 2 seconds."

Yet, according to Northgate, the most critical factor why Anderson chose Reality and the integration team spearheaded by Northgate Reality vice president Mark Pick, was the promise of a seamless crossover from the old format to the new model. Pick and his crew worked with Anderson's staff extensively before the changeover in order to cut down on disruption. "We left on a Friday with the old way and came back in on Monday to find everything up and running perfectly," Anderson says. "Mark and his team had come in over the weekend and we were ready to go. You are always nervous when big alterations like this take place and I feared we would have some problems."

According to Anderson, "not only did we not have those difficulties but the positive changes started making us more effective as a business right away-and continue to do so."

For Pick, whose father Dick pioneered the Reality operating system, Anderson Business Technology was the latest in a line of clients who have had their operational practices revamped by the enhanced Reality product. "With Anderson, we rejuvenated their system and brought it up to speed with the needs of a modern company," says Pick. "We provided integration that allows superior web-based functionality with Microsoft tools, plus super-charged performance and connectivity."